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New York Suberbowl Still Possible?

"One of the things that Iâ€™ve stressed is that it doesnâ€™t matter how we get to the final result, which is a win," said head coach Eric Mangini optimistically. "You just have to find a way to get a win and thatâ€™s what we did."

[Black Star Sports]

Three weeks ago, football fanatics were fantasizing about a New York Super Bowl game between the New York Jets and Giants.

Two weeks ago, some were wondering how deep the Jets would go in the playoffs. Today, the talk around town among fans and football pundits is – will the Jets get in to the playoffs after a come-from-behind 31-27 victory against the Buffalo Bills?

Walking in the parking lots during the pregame festivities at the Meadowlands last week, a popular and mellifluous sound echoed across the landscape of cars, trucks, SUV’s, mobile homes and buses – the theme song to the movie, "The Godfather."

No other music played while fans congregated in clusters, indulging in their beverage of choice, and cooked, and ate, and tossed footballs around the parking lot. It was a somber realization to what is expected from the Jets – prepare yourself emotionally for the worst.

The Jets are in first place, albeit tied with identical records with Miami and New England; they are technically ahead because they lead the divisional series in their conference. Anything can happen in the next two weeks against their two opponents; Seattle and Miami.

"One of the things that I’ve stressed is that it doesn’t matter how we get to the final result, which is a win," said head coach Eric Mangini optimistically. "You just have to find a way to get a win and that’s what we did."

The Jets’ win was almost an illusion when they were down 27-24 with less than two minutes to the game. The Buffalo Bills, instead of keeping the ball on the ground and killing time, inexplicably decided to try an air game; it was shocking since Buffalo’s ground crew had accumulated 187 yards for the game, the most allowed by the Jets’ this season. So Buffalo’s quarterback J.P. Losman rolled to his right—he was hit by safety Abram Elam. The ball sputtered out of his grips, it was picked up by Shaun Ellis who sauntered to the end zone for the winning touchdown. "Looking at that situation, it is hit or miss," said Buffalo Bills wide receiver, Lee Evans. "Instead of sitting here trying to criticize that one call or whatever it may be, we had opportunities to win this football game."

The Jets should have lost their third game in the row. "When you look back on it, I think we’re 9-5 and it doesn’t have an asterisk beside it," said quarterback Brett Favre. "It’s kind of like in baseball when you get a little ‘punch-and-Judy’ right over the first baseman’s head. The box score doesn’t say ‘punch-and-Judy;’ it says single."

"Once again, it doesn’t matter how you win them. All I know is this team is 9-5 and we’re still in first place."

The bottom line is that the Jets’ fate will go down to the last game of the season, despite what music flows through the souls of their attentive fans before games. "If we would have lost, you would be asking about a loss," running back Thomas Jones said, to reporter. He broke Jets’ franchise records for rushing touchdowns (13); touchdowns for a season (15); and it was his eighth straight games with a touchdown, which is a franchise record.

"We won, and at the end of the day that’s all that matters," Jones the running back added.